Daily raids are set up daily on the outskirts of the village of Kryvytsya and nearby settlements in northwestern Ukraine’s Rivne region to catch locals red-handed mining amber illegally, the Japan Times wrote in a report.

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Once a scenic forest area, the site which locals call a “Klondike” has been turned into a moonscape with wet marshy sand on the surface and man-made, funnel-like pits scattered for hundreds of meters around, evidence of work by hundreds of illicit prospectors, the Japan Times reported.

This is one of a number of amber fields in Ukraine, which has the world’s second-largest reserves of amber — some 15,000 tonnes — after Russia, according to Ukraine’s state geology committee.

Legal mining in the country produced just 4 tonnes of the mineral in 2015, according to the most recent available figures, while unlawful methods of amber extraction have reaped 120 to 300 tonnes annually in recent years, said the geology committee.

“The state suffers missed financial opportunities that are huge. In addition, we can already talk about an environmental disaster,” it said in a written comment to AFP.

Prospecting for amber involves applying high-pressure water to the ground. That loosens the amber, which then floats to the surface, but also erodes the fertile topsoil to the point that trees can no longer grow there. Amber poachers have also cleared huge plots of forest in order to ease access to amber-rich sites.

Illegal prospectors admit they cause damage but say the work is the only way to make ends meet in a deprived region.

Agreeing to be filmed only with his back to the camera, the former assistant manager in a Kyiv-based trade company said his monthly salary was about UAH 6,000 hryvnia ($220), but at the “Klondike” he managed to earn $300 in the first five days.

Working in groups of five to 10 people, the miners use powerful homemade pumps and thick hoses to funnel water to a depth of 10 meters (33 feet) in the ground, wash out a dirty mixture of clay, sand and stones and then finally sift from it the coveted gems.